


Bad Things Happen Bingo: Pneumonia

by taylor_tut



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Ben Hargreeves is Dead, Fever, Gen, Good Brother Ben Hargreeves, Good Brother Number Five | The Boy (Umbrella Academy), Good Sister Vanya Hargreeves, Klaus Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Klaus Hargreeves Needs Help, Pneumonia, Protective Ben Hargreeves, Protective Number Five | The Boy (Umbrella Academy), Sick Character, Sick Klaus Hargreeves, Sickfic, Sober Klaus Hargreeves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-12
Updated: 2019-04-12
Packaged: 2020-01-12 02:42:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18437360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taylor_tut/pseuds/taylor_tut
Summary: Klaus gets sick with what everyone thinks is a cold, so Five and Vanya drag him out to conjure the dead. Turns out, it's pneumonia. Ben sheds a little light.





	Bad Things Happen Bingo: Pneumonia

“Klaus, come on, focus,” Five chastised. Klaus rubbed at his eyes and cleared his throat again, knowing that his voice was already shot. The ghost he’d been asked to talk to was going in and out—no matter how many times Klaus asked her to please sit still and chat with him, she wouldn’t stop getting up and walking around. Honestly, at this point, Klaus was pretty sure that his powers were partially to blame because Ben was flickering, too. 

“I’m trying,” he whined. “You didn’t exactly drag me out here on the best day.” A bad cold had passed through the family and Klaus had been the last to get it, and though he had seemed to be on the mend a few days ago, it had come back with a vengeance two nights ago. He’d been awake most of the past two nights coughing, and when Five had tapped on his door this morning and told him to get his ass into the living room, he'd had no real choice but to comply. Vanya had already given him her jacket and he was still shivering despite that she, even in just her button-up, seemed comfortable and he was wearing a sweater and coat. 

"Lighten up, Five," she scolded lightly. "Remember who's been taking care of us for the past week." Five hated to say it, but he did have to admit that even though Klaus hadn't been particularly nurturing or comforting, he'd done the best he could to make sure he was singlehandedly meeting the demands of his five living siblings of varying levels of neediness. Five sighed. 

"Okay,” he finally caved, “take a breath.” Vanya had insisted that they bring water and cold medicine, so Five tossed him the bottle of water. Klaus tried and failed to catch it, which was a little concerning. Though Five had thought it was a little overkill to think they’d need supplies for a trip that wasn’t going to be any longer than three hours including the drive, he changed his mind about it when Klaus buried his face in his elbow to cough deeply, a heavy, wheezing quality to his breathing that made it last until he was breathless and exhausted. 

“Christ,” Five muttered, “you sound like shit.” None of the others had sounded anywhere near that bad, he hadn’t thought, and it had cleared up fast for the rest of them. Klaus shrugged. 

“Maybe we should just go home,” Vanya hoped more that seriously suggested. It worked well enough to make Five feel guilty, but not enough to make him rethink his decision. 

“I wouldn’t be forcing any of us out here if we didn’t need to be,” he said, the closest thing they’d likely get to an apology. “The faster we’re able to talk to dad’s old friend, the faster we can get out of here.” 

Vanya didn’t quite think that was fair, but what about their lives ever was? Klaus seemed to be of the same opinion as he cracked his knuckles and sat back against the old marble fountain of the abandoned castle. 

“Okay,” he finally sighed, “let’s get this over with.” 

 

Klaus kept talking to ghosts until he could barely hold his head up anymore, and even for a while past that. What five had thought would take an hour and a half ended up taking more than four. He was alternating between freezing and sweating, right now enduring shaking chills despite his own coat, Vanya’s jacket, and even Five’s little blazer. He’d sort of nodded off during the moment that Five had put that over him, and that was probably the only reason that he had done it at all. Surprisingly, Five had stopped snapping at him to wake up or to pay better attention. His naps were short, always interrupted by the need to clear his lungs so he could breathe, so he’d probably decided that they weren’t worth the trouble of yelling at Klaus, especially since even when he WAS awake, the ghost was barely present. 

“Klaus,” a voice called, bringing to his attention for the first time the fact that his eyes were closed. He didn’t need to open them to recognize the voice. 

“Hey, Ben,” he greeted in a tone that toed the line between friendly and delirious. “Where’ve you been?”

Ben crouched next to him, something Klaus knew that only he could hear. “I’ve been here,” he replied. “You just haven’t been able to see me. Your fever is crazy, man. You need medical attention.” 

Klaus shook his head adamantly. “S’just a cold,” he maintained. Footsteps from nearby approached, two sets of them, and the siblings attached were whispering about him as if he couldn’t hear. 

“Who’s he talking to?” Five asked urgently.

“I think he said Ben,” she said, “but I can’t be sure. He’s too calm for it to be dad’s friend.”

“Yeah, but if he can see the spirits again, maybe we should wake him up and see if she’s here.” 

“He looks bad, Five,” Vanya fretted. “Are you sure we shouldn’t just take him home?” 

“As soon as he’s finished here,” he promised, and Vanya scoffed.

“Jesus,” she muttered, “you sound just like dad.”

Klaus could hear Five’s feet square beneath him as his posture stiffened. “I don’t,” he denied. “This is just important. The world is ending, Vanya. This cold isn’t going to kill him, but the apocalypse will. I’m prioritizing.” 

Ben turned his attention to Klaus, who still hadn’t bothered to open his eyes—that, or he feared what would be in front of them if he did. 

“They think this is a cold?” Ben asked incredulously. Once more, Klaus shrugged, and he could practically hear Ben roll his eyes. “You’re all idiots. Tell them.”

Klaus frowned. “Tell them what?” Five and Vanya’s attention snapped up at that. 

“Come on, Klaus,” Ben said, “don’t play dumb. You know what this is. You’ve had pneumonia before; you know what it feels like.” 

Indeed, Klaus had caught pneumonia before. He’d had it once when he was a teenager and twice on the streets. Everyone had always told him it was a complication of an immune system compromised by drugs and alcohol, and he didn’t disagree. 

“Tell us what?” Five and Vanya were still staring at him expectantly, waiting for him to relay whatever message that Ben had wanted to convey, but Klaus shook his head. 

“Nothing,” Klaus mumbled, pulling himself into a more upright position and then taking a moment to catch his breath from just that small amount of movement. 

“Don’t make me do it, Klaus,” Ben warned. Klaus glared but waved him off with a dismissive hand gesture. 

“Alright,” he shook himself, “Ouija time.” 

“You’re not going to say anything?” Ben asked. 

“Nope.” 

Suddenly, Klaus felt his hands turn icy cold. His energy levels hit the floor in a second flat and he dropped like a mannequin with its strings cut, his face colliding hard with Vanya’s shoulder. 

“Klaus?” she yelped, then gasped when she felt a second icy hand on her shoulder. “Ben?” 

“It’s been a while,” he greeted casually, “from your angle, at least. I see you all the time. Hi, Number Five.” Five’s eyes were wide, betraying a rare sense of admiration for his brother, while Vanya’s were filling with tears. She blinked them away—she didn’t have time for that right now, and besides, it wasn’t a good idea to let her emotions get the best of her. 

“What are you doing here?” she asked. 

“Klaus isn’t going to be able to talk to any spirits,” he said, “though he doesn’t believe me when I tell him that. He can’t see them with a fever this high.” 

Vanya immediately pressed her palm to Klaus’ forehead and winced, turning to Five with a worried, guilty look. 

“He’s boiling,” she announced. Five frowned, pressing his own curious hand to Klaus’ cheek. His face didn’t show anything, but the fact that he pressed the other one to his other cheek was just a little too tender to convince them he didn’t care. 

“Why wouldn’t he tell us?” he asked. Ben was already flickering despite that he’d only been visible for a few moments, and Klaus was stirring in Vanya’s arms but not waking up fully. 

“I don’t think he knows it affects his powers,” Ben admitted. Of course, Klaus wouldn’t know whether or not he was able to see ghosts when he was out of his mind with fever, but it made sense that Ben would keep track of that sort of thing. When only one corporeal person was able to communicate with a guy, he’d probably be pretty perceptive as to what affected that ability. He was fading fast, too fast to get a chance to even say goodbye to his siblings before they could no longer see him. Typical.

“We need to get him back to Mom,” Vanya decided out loud, trying to compose herself from the shock of seeing their brother for the first time since his violent death. She was lucky that Five was tall for his age, because even though Klaus was thin, that didn’t mean he was light when he was completely dead weight. He nodded and helped Klaus to his feet, where he made a pitiful effort to stay upright and help walk to the car without even the energy to open his eyes. 

“Come on, Klaus,” Five urged through gritted teeth, “I know you can walk. Don’t make us drag you, please.”

Klaus’ attempt to help only made things worse as he stumbled over his own feet, but after several close calls in which all three of them very nearly took a bite of the pavement they walked across, they finally managed to struggle to the car. They shoved him into the back seat, where he immediately curled up on his side and fell asleep once more. 

“Shit,” Five huffed once he was behind the wheel of the car. He couldn’t pry his eyes away from his mostly-unconscious brother in the back seat, and that didn’t escape Vanya’s notice. “We needed this information. I don’t have a plan B.”

Vanya offered a shy smile, the one that had always helped to quiet down Five’s mind when they were young. “You never do, until you need one,” she pointed out, “and now you need one, so you’ll figure something out.”

“Yeah, Five,” Klaus added, apparently not as asleep and a bit more lucid than they’d thought he was, now that he was lying down and sipping the water that Vanya had forced into his hands. “That’s the power you’re always sleepin’ on. You can blink through time, sure, whatever. Your brain is the good shit.” 

Five started the car and ignored the comment. “Yeah, and yours is useless,” he chastised. “But I’d still like to get us home before it fries completely.” As usual, Klaus took no offense to the dig, allowing his eyes flutter shut once more so he could drift off on the way home. 

 


End file.
